Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in Adults

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a kind of leukemia. Leukemia is a cancer of blood or bone marrow. ALL is also referred to as acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute lymphoid leukemia.

ALL is a cancer in your body`s blood-making procedure. Blood cells are made in the bone marrow.

The word"acute" in acute lymphocytic leukemia denotes the fact that the disease can advance quickly and symptoms from the disease occur over a relatively brief period of time. The word"lymphocytic" implies that the cancer develops out of lymphocytes, a kind of white blood cellphone.

The body generates three Kinds of infection-fighting lymphocytes:

• B lymphocytes, which make antibodies to help protect your body.

• T lymphocytes, that may ruin virus-infected cells, foreign cells, and cancer cells.

• Natural killer cells, and this also can kill viruses and cancer cells.

In ALL, the body produces too many immature lymphocytes (lymphoblasts). These cells cannot fight disease in addition to normal cells. Rather than maturing into adult cells, these cells continue to grow and multiply as immature cells and are cells.

Since these lymphocytes instantly multiply, they crowd out blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets from the blood and bone marrow. This might cause infection, anemia, and easy bleeding.

Genetic influences are associated with ALL.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia invades the blood. It can involve different components of the body, such as the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, brain and spinal cord (central nervous system), and testes.

Symptoms

One of the possible symptoms and signs of ALL are:

• Persistent and unexplained fever

• Marked exhaustion and fatigue

• Unexpected weight loss with appetite

• Easy bleeding or bruising, because of low platelets from the blood (platelets are small cells associated with blood clotting).

Leukemia cells that spread to the brain and spinal cord can lead to:

• Annoyance that is persistent and severe

• Seizures

• Trouble with balance

ALL isn`t just a frequent disease in adults. So the symptoms are caused by some other condition.

Most often the symptoms are caused by another condition, maybe not totally all. If you experience some one of them, you should always contact your physician.

Diagnosis

The first step in diagnosis is usually a physical examination and medical history. Your doctor will look for signs of disease. She or he will inquire about your health habits and past illnesses and treatments.

Your health care provider will need to examine your blood and bone marrow, and also potentially other tissues and tissues to decide if you have ALL. These tests and procedures may be utilized:

• Blood cell count and other blood tests -- blood will be drawn out of the arm to check for the amounts and also appearance of cells.

• Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy -- A little sample of liquid and bone bone marrow is removed off the hipbone or breastbone using a very long needle. A physician tests for abnormal cells.

• Cytogenetic study -- This evaluation searches for specific improvements in the hereditary material of cells.

• Flow cytometry (immunophenotyping) -- This assesses the characteristics of a patient`s tissues. It helps determine if cancerous cells began by T lymphocytes or B lymphocytes.

Other lab evaluations as well as these will help your physician determine your subtype of and your prognosis.

You may need extra evaluations and procedures As soon as you`ve already been diagnosed with ALL. These can help determine if the cancer has spread beyond the blood and bone marrow. The outcome will help to plan a course of treatment. These extra evaluations will comprise:

• Imaging tests, such as torso xray, computed tomography (CT) scanning and ultrasound.

• Lumbar puncture/spinal tap, that utilizes a needle to amass some fluid. That is performed to look for leukemia cells from the fluid that bathes the spinal cord and brain. Chemotherapy could be given directly to the fluid, if they are present.

You may be called some hematologist/oncologist if you`re diagnosed with leukemia.

Expected Duration

Acutelymphocyticleukemia usually gets worse quickly if not treated.

Prevention

There are no known ways.

A few factors may increase a person`s risk of ALL, but are not avoidable. These include:

• Being man.

• Becoming white.

• Exposure to elevated amounts of radiation.

• Contact with certain compounds, including past treatment with some chemotherapy medication.

• Certain inherited disorders, such as Down syndrome or Fanconi anemia.

Having more than one of these risk factors does not mean that you will grow ALL. Many people with the disease do not have any risk factors.

Treatment

ALL is classified as:

• Un-treated. Un-treated ALL is newly diagnosed.

• In remission. ALL that is in remission has been medicated. The individual will not have some signs or symptoms of leukemia.

• Recurrent. Recurrent ALL has been medicated. After going into remission, It`s return.

There are typically just two stages of treatment for adult ALL. The first treatment phase`s objective is to kill around brain and the spinal cord. This places the disease into remission. The goal of the next point would be to kill. Even the complete treatment can simply take three or two decades.

Over these periods, patients undergo treatment to prevent or cure leukemia from the brain and spinal cord.

The common therapy for many is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy for ALL is usually given as combination chemotherapy. Which usually means that a lot more than one drug can be used. Other treatments may be used under different conditions.

Following are some of the commonly used treatments for Many:

• Chemo Therapy uses drugs to prevent the growth of cancer cells from killing them keeping them from dividing. Chemotherapy drugs may be taken orally or injected into a muscle or vein. They travel throughout the blood and body. Chemotherapy that goes into the backbone could be used to treat ALL that has, or may, disperse to the brain and spinal cord.

• Radiation therapy employs high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells or prevent them from growing. Rays can be delivered by a machine outside your body (external radiation therapy). Or, it can originate out of a substance put into or near a group of cancer cells.

The cancer medication, vincristine, has become the main chemotherapy utilized in adults for ALL. A type of vincristine allows the medication. It`s advocated for people with certain types of most that have had an incomplete response.

A more recent treatment for many is a stem cell transplant. A stem cell transplant divides a person cells. Stem cell transplant may utilize stem cells from a donor or by your own body. Donor stem cell transplant could be necessary if the individual`s stem cells are abnormal or happen to be destroyed by cancer therapy.

Stem cells (immature blood cells) are removed from the blood or bone marrow of a donor or patient. Once removed, they are analyzed under a microscope and the cell number is quantified. The stem cells are kept for future usage.

The individual destroys high-dose chemotherapy to eradicate. The preserved stem cells are then infused to the patient`s bloodstream. They migrate into the bone marrow space. They are able to regenerate and grow in to the several distinct cells that normally replicate the bone marrow, As these are stem cells.

Cell transplants require substantial dose chemotherapy to rid your body of the leukemia. Before stem cells have had the time to mature, From the process, the individual cannot make any blood cells. This places the individual at high risk of bleeding and disease. There are long term side effects. Stem cell transplant needs to be undertaken only in technical centers.

A treatment approach for ALL may be the utilization of so called therapy. The individual`s blood cells modified to allow them eliminate them and to recognize the abnormal leukemia cells and then are removed. While this therapy remains not FDA approved, it is likely to be approved so on.

Should continue to see their doctors for checkups. A number could be repeated during and after treatment to determine how well your therapy is currently working and/or whether your condition has shifted.

Sideeffects

Some people may experience no side effects. Others may face side results. One of the possible side effects of therapy would be:

• anemia

• Disease

• Easy bleeding

• Nausea and sickness

• Mouth sores

• Nerve damage sensations in the hands and feet

• Nausea or constipation

• Baldness.

There are ways to control these unwanted effects. As an example, regular hand washing helps lower the probability of infection.

When considering a treatment option, it is necessary to consult your physician concerning risks and the expected benefits of a particular therapy. How will my outlook be affected by this treatment? What`s my wellbeing be during and after treatment?

When To Call a Qualified

Speak to your doctor or healthcare provider if you experience any symptoms of ALL, such as:

• Persistent and unexplained fever

• Marked exhaustion and fatigue

• Unexpected weight loss with appetite

• Easy bleeding or bruising

Prognosis

The outlook for a Individual with ALL Depends upon several factors, such as:

• Patient`s age

• White blood cell count in the time of identification

• The subtype of Most

• Whether the leukemia has spread to the brain or Back

• The existence of a change

• The individual responds to chemotherapy

• Whether the disease has come back

• Whether when there is a decrease in platelet counts, the Individual reacts to platelet transfusions

External sources

National Cancer Institute (NCI)NCI Public Inquiries Office6116 Executive BoulevardRoom 3036ABethesda, MD 20892-83221-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)TTY: 1-800-332-8615http://www.cancer.gov/

American Cancer Society (ACS)P.O. Box 56566Atlanta, GA 30343Toll-Free: 1-800-ACS-2345 (1-800-227-2345)TTY: 1-866-228-4327http://www.cancer.org/

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society1311 Mamaroneck Ave.White Plains, NY 10605-LRB-914-RRB- 949-5213; Tollfree: 1-800-955-4572http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org

Further advice

Always consult with your healthcare provider to make sure the information displayed on this page pertains to your circumstances.